


Old fashioned

by Mistress_of_Vos



Series: Take five [5]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Beige Prose, Canon Divergence, He is also a creep, Kidnapping, M/M, Mentions of marriage, New Earth, No Beta, Ra's is a gentleman, Short & Sweet, Tim as the demon's bride, Traditions, batfam loves to gossip, courting, i think, little plot tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:27:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26922865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistress_of_Vos/pseuds/Mistress_of_Vos
Summary: First a suit.Then an erotic book.And right now, Timothy Drake-Wayne is looking at a huge red roses bouquet.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Ra's al Ghul
Series: Take five [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914478
Kudos: 123





	Old fashioned

**Author's Note:**

> First, I want to announce that if you follow "Too young too marry" the story will update in october the 20th and not on the 13th. That's pretty much it. 
> 
> I'm trying to change my style so this is a little experiment. Enjoy!

_Fic #5 **“Courting”** _

.

.

He finds it over his bed.

It’s a beautiful suit, black coat and pants with an emerald shirt. Pretty elegant and classy, clearly made to fit Tim’s figure like a glove. There is not tie, but somehow the outfit looks good without it, as if it were meant to be that way.

Yet, green is not a color he usually wears in the office. In fact, his suits are a collection of black, white, red and gray clothing that cost an obscene amount of money. Green is not his color, not really. It makes him look paler.

The blue-eyed blinks twice before looking around the room (his room) and then getting out to check every door and window of his apartment, trying to find any clue of who got inside just to left the clothing over his bed. He knows that Tam adores to play image-manager and that Pru got a copy of his keys around two months ago for some reason, but he can’t picture them working together to leave a suit in his bed instead of just telling him to change his style.

Nevertheless, there is no indicator of someone breaking in, which means that they had a key which takes him back to Tam and Pru which, again, doesn’t make sense.

“Fuck it,” murmurs Tim before returning to his room and hanging up the suit inside his closet.

It is a nice suit, after all.

*

*

The package in question doesn’t have any tag besides the little red post it that read _“-Enjoy”_ in the top.

Tim had found it when he arrived to his apartment, carefully placed in the middle of the dining table. An impersonal white paperboard small box that felt extremely light, and Red Robin is still weighting the pros and cons of opening it.

For one side, he finds himself in the same situation of the suit, where there is nothing that indicates someone getting inside by any means different to opening the door. On the other side, when he checked the security cameras, he discovered that the box had, let’s say, magically appeared. And when he checked the previous day, he found the same for the suit.

Someone hacked his cameras, and right now Tim is biting his lip, wondering if he should worry.

The logical explanation, he thinks, is that Barbara has something do to with this. Gifts being left in the middle of his apartment? Sounded like Dick (who never would hack his little brother’s cameras by himself because of shame), which made the possibility of Barbara erasing the footage very believable. Now, the key… Perhaps it had been Tam working with Dick? At the end, Dick could force his entrance, but Tim knows he wouldn’t do it out of respect. However, Tim hasn’t given Tam any copy of his key but hey, convincing Pru isn’t that difficult if you know where to push.

(And as a matter of fact, Tim is pretty sure that Tam knows exactly how to get Pru to do what she wants. Something he really tries not to think about too often).

The theory sounds easy in his mind, and, after convincing himself of it, he opens the box.

It’s a book.

For a moment, the theory of Dick and Tam sounds even more possible, until he reads the title.

_“Legacy of Cain: Volume 1_ _”_

Tim feels his cheeks getting red and he stops breathing for a second until he manages to make a disgusted face; he slaps the book against the table with fury.

This isn’t something Dick or Tam would do, and that makes Tim’s mind wonder about the first gift again. The idea of having two different authors crosses his mind, or maybe he is thinking in the wrong people.

First a suit.

Now an erotic book.

Bruce would probably gift him a suit and leave it there, and he possesses the means to enter and erase the footage. But the book?

Jason would enjoy leaving the book, and he, just like Bruce, can enter and erase his steps without Pru’s key or Barbara helping with the footage. But the suit?

Damian… Damian was out of the question.

Tim rubs his nose and sighs loudly; he needs to talk with Tam.

*

*

Tam isn’t the one doing it, neither is Pru.

Timothy Drake-Wayne is, currently, looking at a huge red roses bouquet placed in a foreign vase in the breakfast bar.

His eyelids tremble.

“This is it,” he says as he turns around and takes out his phone, calling Jason with furious eyes.

_Beep. Beep._

“Babybird?”

“Are you the one leaving the gifts?”

Jason giggles at the other side, “Why would I give you anything?”

“So it’s not you?”

“I swear, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Tim exhales. “There is someone entering my apartment and leaving… Gifts. I thought it could have been you, since they seem to be a bad joke.”

“I wouldn’t waste my time with such a long joke; have you asked Dick about it?”

“This doesn’t look like his usual jokes.”

“Maybe it’s the demon brat.”

“I highly doubt it, they aren’t his style neither.”

Jason chuckles.

“Then seems like you will have to actually play detective, Timmy.”

“Hate that nickname,” he voices before finishing the call.

With a quick glance towards the bouquet, he leaves the apartment.

*

*

“Is that jewelry?” asks Stephanie with honest curiosity as she walks around the dining table, inspecting the green velvet box that lays open next to the flower vase, showing a beautiful and ostentatious bracelet made of silver with emerald incrustations.

Like the suit, it is clearly made to Tim’s measures.

Tim sits with tiredness in a chair, rubbing his eyes.

“It’s not you neither. Great.”

“I’m not _what?_ Do you have a secret admirer?”

“I don’t know, it could be a joke as long as I know. Thought it had been you.”

“Why me?”

“Because I’m running out of options. The first gift was a suit, so I thought it had been Tam and – oh, don’t give me _that_ look – just ignored it,” Tim takes a deep breath, “But turns out it wasn’t her. Nor Pru. Nor Dick. Nor Jason.”

“Mmm, have you asked Cass?”

“Why would Cass give me an erotic book?”

Stephanie raises an eyebrow.

“Well, she is out of the list, isn’t she?”

“Which is a good thing for you,” whispers Tim to himself, making the blonde smirk.

“Don’t be jealous, boy wonder. But going back to the gifts, come on, tell me. What exactly has been happening?”

With blushed cheeks, Tim gets up to take out a wine bottle of the refrigerator and points at the living room with his head.

“First I need to get a little bit drunk.”

Stephanie just laughs.

*

*

Not only have the gifts keep appearing, they have also started to multiply.

Now, instead of a lonely bracelet, Tim finds a whole set of jewelry carefully placed in his table.

Or, instead of a single suit, he finds five tailored outfits that include shoes and tie.

And, the most embarrassing one, he finds a whole set of erotic books under a black box that hides the most ridiculous pair of lingerie that Tim has ever seen (and why is it made to his measures as well, for God’s sake).

The thing is, that Tim has been receiving this gift for two months now. Enough time to, sadly, tell his situation to almost every member of the family. Which conducted him to this position.

“Maybe it’s that clone boy?” asks Red Hood between punches and kicks, just inches away from Red Robin, who is just as busy.

(Really, how had Black Mask managed to get so many people as to force all of the bats to get together?)

“Shut it, Red Hood,” spits Tim as he hits another guy with his boo staff.

“I mean, Hood has a point,” expresses Spoiler’s voice through the communicator.

“What are you talking about?” questions Robin, also in their ears.

“Someone has been leaving gifts to Red Robin for weeks,” clarifies Nightwing, who lands near to Hood followed by Batgirl.

“Gossip is unnecessary,” says Cass before jumping and knocking a man who was trying to get to a gun.

“I agree with Hood, it may be Superboy. He does have superspeed, which explains everything,” speaks Duke in his ears.

“Stop talking and focus on the mission,” complains Kane, in their ears, of course.

“I’m going to disconnect myself from the line,” warns Tim with an annoyed voice, breaking the nose of a tall guy by accident. At least that will keep him down.

“No, you are not,” orders Oracle with her firm voice.

Batman lands next to Red Robin.

“Enough. Huntress, status?”

“There is a truck arriving to crime alley, but Black Mask’s men haven’t arrived.”

“Very well, we are moving. Wait for us.”

“Got it.”

Before he can throw his rope, Batman stops Tim by putting a hand in his shoulder.

“You should come to the manor.”

Red Robin goes, unironically, red.

“No, thank you.” And he jumps.

*

*

When he opens his eyes, the first thing he notices is that he is missing his cowl, gloves and belt; his skin feeling dried out at the sudden lack of protection.

Second thing he notices, it’s the classy room. Green carpet, golden walls, dark red couch in the middle, facing a fireplace.

Third thing he notices, it’s that he doesn’t remember getting there. Last thing he remembers is…

_He was next to Hood, fighting a bunch of masked men that had gotten out of the truck that Huntress had followed. The men were clearly trained and obviously intended to put a fight, which was weird for drug traffickers._

_Even weirder when Spoiler got into the truck and, with a confused voice, told them there was nothing inside._

_Red Robin had grinned, wondering what was happening and, before he could say anything, he had passed out._

Tim moves his neck, suddenly feeling a small itch. Of course, they had drugged him. But how had they managed to hit him without anyone noticing it? Again, those men weren’t mere drug dealers.

He gets up of the floor and stretches himself before walking through the room, identifying his surroundings. There is nothing besides the couch or the fire that slowly heats the room. There is a window covered by bars in a wall, opposite to it, crossing the whole room, there is a huge door.

When Tim is walking towards it with the intention of seeing if it is closed, the door opens, letting an inhumanly tall figure inside the room.

Aristocratic features, dark skin, green eyes and an arrogant smirk.

“Detective.”

God, why?

“Ra’s al Ghul, why am I not surprised?” Lies.

Once the green cape of the man has finished getting inside, the door is closed by, Tim guesses, Ubu’s hands.

“Please, Timothy. Take a seat.”

Tim looks at the red couch, realizing how it’s barely big enough to hold three people. Perhaps only two if they were bigger than Tim himself.

“I prefer to be like this, if it doesn’t bother you,” he answers with a heavy tone of sarcasm.

Ra’s keeps smirking.

“As you wish, Timothy.” He says before walking and sitting comfortably in the couch by himself, arms spread, cape slightly wrinkling, the sword in his waist shimmering.

Tim swallows, waiting for the man to say something.

Something like _“I told you I was going to get my revenge”_ or _“Tell me, have you any idea of were your family is right now?”_ , bur certainly not what the man actually says. 

“Were the presents to your liking, Timothy?”

Red Robin, for the first time in months, is speechless.

Ra’s can’t be referring to…

“I would have left a note, of course. But you would have throwed them away… Timothy?”

Tim’s cheeks are getting hotter with every second, his head is starting to feel dizzy and his legs are starting to feel heavier.

“It was… It was you?”

Ra’s raises an eyebrow.

“And here I was thinking you were already suspecting.”

Sweet Lord, Ra’s al Ghul gifted him lingerie.

“What… What the hell is wrong with you?” manages to question Tim, trying to order to his body to stop blushing.

“Were they not to your liking?”

“Why are you sending me gifts? Why… Wait,” Tim takes a breath and counts from one to ten, “You sent your ninjas to get into my apartment and you hacked my security system, didn’t you?”

“You make it sound so wrongly, Timothy. It was with my best intentions, I promise.”

“Why would you send me gifts!?”

Ra’s changes his smirk for a serious face.

“It’s called courting, Timothy, don’t play the fool.”

_Shit._

Tim blinks and then he licks his lips, swallowing again before clearing his throat. Trying to focus in processing the events.

Ra’s was the one sending gifts.

Ergo, Ra’s sent him erotic novels and lingerie and jewelry and flowers.

Right now, Tim is… Kidnapped? And Ra’s seems to not understand why Tim is surprised.

“Believe it or not, it never crossed my mind that you were the one sending gifts.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Ra’s sighs.

“Then I have to try harder, don’t you think, Timothy?”

Tim shrugs and then crosses his arms, wondering if Bruce and the others are captured as well. More likely? They are.

Barbara, Duke, Kane and Damian were the only ones who hadn’t arrived to the battle, or at least that is what Red Robin remembers. If they didn’t get captured then Tim just needs to buy time until they arrive for their rescue.

If Tim is lucky, he is the only one captured, which means the rescue should be faster to arrive, but Tim has never been very lucky when it refers to his encounters with Ra’s.

“You said ‘courting’, didn’t you?” asks Tim with a more relaxed voice, trying to relax his body as well. He will gain nothing by being defensive.

“Yes, I did.”

“The flowers were nice… But please, do not send me more lingerie or erotic literature.”

Ra’s smiles smugly and Tim swears he can feel the man undressing him with his eyes, which is a strange feeling.

Ra’s is… Well, Tim is still trying to process the fact that yes, he is being courted by him. One would think he wouldn’t be so surprised (the man had sent his sister to obtain an heir with Tim’s blood), but somehow Tim had never thought about Ra’s actually trying to… Court him? Flirt with him? Seduce him?

In fact, Tim could have sworn that Ra’s was straight.

“The attires were chosen to favor your figure, I assure you, you will look astounding in them.”

Ra’s is assuming that Tim will wear them… It makes sense, honestly. He is the Head of the Demon, there are little things that can be denied from him. And right now, Tim knows that he can’t do anything to stop the man from doing anything, if Ra’s decides that he wants to see him in green panties with a matching bra then he will get it.

“The suits are nice; I will give you that.”

“I assume you haven’t worn any of the clothing I sent you.”

Tim looks at the door and then at the window, with resignation, he walks a little and then sits next to Ra’s, legs together and arms still crossed.

“I tried on a coat, but nothing more.”

“Mmmm… Perhaps you could tell me what you would like to receive as a gift next time.” Tim can’t help to giggle at the idea of Ra’s writing down ideas of gifts for him like a teenager.

“A new coffee maker would be nice, mine is getting slow,” he says with amusement, allowing himself to half close his eyes.

“I will have it arranged.”

Tim almost chokes in his own saliva, Ra’s notices it and pats him softly in the back for some seconds before retiring his hand and cupping his chin, once Tim stops coughing, he speaks again.

“I selected a pavè setting.”

“For what?”

“For the engagement ring.”

Tim wants to scream.

“Are you proposing?”

“Courting always means that a proposition has been made, detective.”

“Who says I will accept you?”

Ra’s moves his hand in the air, smiling with something similar to fondness.

It’s a face that Tim had never seen in him, he isn’t sure if he likes it or not. God, he doesn’t even know if he could actually like Ra’s (leaving the villain aspect behind, that is), he has never imagined that.

The man is handsome and intelligent and it seems like he can act like a proper gentleman, aspects that Tim can appreciate. 

And he also throwed Tim out of a window… And he is Damian’s grandfather… And he tried to manipulate Tim into joining him using Conner’s death in his favor…

Nop. Being handsome doesn’t make up for all those things.

(Not even if Ra’s has a magical pit that can keep him younger and that would probably regenerate Tim’s spleen and… No, no!)

“I can be very persuasive, Timothy.”

Tim bits his lips.

“And what am I doing here? Am I to be kept here so that my only option is to accept your… attentions?”

Ra’s laughs.

Not a villain _“I will destroy the world”_ laugh, but more like the laugh that Damian gets when he is truly amused.

“In my culture, a proper courting was needed. I will not keep you here, I will let you go once your father dignifies himself to come.”

He didn’t captured Bruce and the others, good.

“Why?”

“American culture insists in asking the father figure for the hand in marriage of their children.”

“You know that is for women, right?”

“You will be a bride, and brides aren’t necessarily women. Therefore, I will respect the tradition of asking for your hand.”

Tim exhales.

“Why ask Bruce? He will punch you in the face.”

“Tradition says…”

“Oh, please. You just want to annoy him.”

Ra’s tilts his head a little, barely noticeable.

“It may be a pleasant side effect, yes.”

“Why would you even care for American tradition?” questions Tim as he uncrosses his arms, turning around a little to inspect Ra’s’ face.

“Because I expect you to respect my own traditions.”

Tim wrinkles his nose.

“If you try to castrate me, I swear…”

“In my culture,” starts Ra’s, interrupting him, “only the consummation is necessary to consider a couple married. The bride should always consent, of course. The father’s approval isn’t required, but it is appreciated.”

Tim shakes his head.

“Does that mean that… Just by having sex…?”

“Yes, Timothy. There is no further ceremony, unlike American tradition dictates. Since I wouldn’t give you the ceremony you would expect, I decided to at least do a proper courting as well as following the proposing tradition.”

Tim gets closer to Ra’s raising his hand and putting it in the man’s chest, over the knot of the tie.

“I don’t expect anything, I don’t want to marry you. I am not a bride,” he says without breathing, looking directly into the assassins’ eyes.

Ra’s opens his mouth but before he can answer, the door is, literally, destroyed.

Batman stands there, Nightwing and Red Hood behind him.

“Ra’s.”

“Batman,” greets the older as he gets up calmly, meanwhile, Tim gets up as well, stepping behind to distance himself from Ra’s.

“You will let Red Robin leave.”

Ra’s nods.

“Timothy is free to leave, there is no need for a fight.”

Batman seems surprised, specially when Tim walks slowly towards them, as if Ra’s weren’t behind him with a sword.

“If you did anything to him…”

“I didn’t do anything to Timothy… Not yet.”

Oh, and how Tim panics in that moment.

“Ra’s… If you ever capture one of my children…”

“Let me speak, Batman.”

And Bruce lets him, the world hates Tim.

“I will not be kidnaping Timothy again, I promise. However, I do intend to keep courting him.”

Nightwind makes a gesture of throwing up and Red Hood laughs under the helmet.

“As his father, I considered necessary to let you know my intentions. And I ask for his hand in marriage as well.”

Batman’s face is unreadable.

“No,” he says firmly. No anger, no disgust, no emotion.

Ra’s actually shrugs.

“You can’t say that I didn’t ask.”

“God, why me…?” cries Tim as he accepts the domino mask that Jason hands him.

“Because you are a beautiful creature, Timothy. More than worthier to be my spouse.”

Red Robin smiles with anxiety before raising both of his middle fingers in Ra’s’ direction.

“No means no.”

And they leave.

*

*

Tim shouldn’t be surprised that there is a new coffee maker in his apartment.

Neither should he sigh with astonishment when he opens a black velvet box to discover a pave engagement ring.

And he definitely shouldn’t smell the new flowers bouquet as he reads the note that was left over the coffee maker.

_“I assure you, Timothy, you will come to me willingly._

_I am a patient man.”_

Tim licks his lips before throwing the note to the trash.

But he keeps the ring, after all, it is a nice ring.

(And, watching through the cameras, Ra’s smiles).

**Author's Note:**

> The gossip scene is based on the batfam reunion that happened before Alfred's death but with some changes. I don't actually like this new continuity so my fics are always in new earth, but sometimes I just want to add the positive things of rebirth. 
> 
> What Ra's says about only sex being needed was actually canon? In Bride of the demon he slept with Evelyn and tha's enough to claim her as his wife, the next day everyone already refers to her as such. I liked the concept since I usually picture Ra's doing a huge ceremony and it is a nice change.  
> The thing he says about brides not being women is inspired by Sporus's story, who was refered to as wife and empress of Nero despise being a man. While I actually think that Ra's would castrate his male concubines, I tried to keep this as sweet as possible so let's pretend that this Ra's is, in fact, a gentleman.
> 
> P.S. Did you notice the little TamPru? I'm planning on writing a fic about them so I wanted to mention it here to see if people reacted to it.


End file.
